Electric railway



(No Modem' H. W. LIBBEY.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

No. 597,202 Patented Ja,11. 1l,1898.

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UNITED STATES.

PATENT Orifice,

HOSEA YV. LIBBEY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 597,202, dated January11, 1898.

Application filed March l0, 1897. Serial No. 626,853. (No model.)

To all whom :it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOSEA. lV. LIBBEY, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Boston, in the county of Suolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful linprovem ents inElectric Systems for Propelling, Heating, Lighting, and Tele phoningfrom Railroad-Gars, of which the 0l lowing, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a speciiication.

My invention relates to means for propel-v ling, heating, and lightingrailroad-cars by electricity, and also in means for telephoning fromsaid cars to any desired point or station.

The invention consists in the construction of the conductors iorconveying the electricity to the cars and returning same to theterminal, also in the means for conducting the electricity from andreturning it to the conductors and in conducting the electricity toelectric heaters, electric lamps, and telephones, so that one or all maybe operated, as desired.

Referring to the' accompanying drawings, Figure l represents alongitudinal vertical section of a portion of a railroad-car embodyingmy invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of same. Fig. 3 isan end view of one of the wheels, contacts, vand section of the rail.Fig. -l is a section through the rail and portion oi' a wheel, the mainconductor, and supports. Fig. 5 is a side view of the rail, electricconduct-or, and supports in their normal position.. i

A represents a railroad-car, B one of the trucks, C the wheels, and Dthe rails, all of which may be of ordinary construction, eX- cept thewheels upon one of the axles, (preferably the front one,) which wheelshave formed in the edges of their flanges a halfround recess CZ, (seeFig. 4,) that is lined with a suitable insulating material CZ', ontowhich is shrunk or otherwise fitted a ring O' of copper wire or othergood electric conductor.

E E are T-pieces of copper or other suitable metal supported on theinside of each track by a series of springs F. These T- pieces are madeup of a number of short lengths-say lifteen or twenty feetlong-connected together, but insulated from each other, as shown at e.(See Figs. l and 5.)

The copper rings O' on the wheels O are always in contact with somesection of these T-pieces E.

Immediately below each of the T-pieces E is a T-piece G Gr of goodconducting metal, through one of which the electric current is conductedto the car and returned through the other. of danger from these T-piecesG G, I prefer to insulate them by coating them with guttapercha or othersuitable material, which can be out away on the upper surface where itis desired to make contacts, as hereinafter de scribed. These T-pieces Gare supported by but insulated from brackets H, att-ached to the webofthe rail D. These brackets H are forked at their outer ends, theprongs 7i h standing one over the other, as shown in Fig. 4, the lowerprong supporting the conduct-or G and the upper one a springcontact-piece consisting of two hard-rubber disks g g and a cylinder jof soft rubber, through the center of which passes a rod Zt, formed nearits upper end with a collar Zt', that rests upon the upper disk g. Thelower disk g rests upon and is supported by the fork Zt of the bracketH. When in its normal position, the soft-rubber spring j and rod Zt' areraised, so that the lower end of the rod Zt is out of contact with theconductor G, (see Fig. 5,) but when a ln order to prevent. vany chancesection of the T-piece E is depressed by the hoop O in the flange of thewheel C, as shown in Fig. et, the lower end of the rod Zt will be incontact with the conductor G, and thus make an electric connectionbetween them. The current passing from the conductor G through thecontact-piece Za and a section oi' the T-piece E to the hoop O' of thewheel C is then taken by a trolley H, running upon said hoop O', andconducted by a wire I to a switch K, and thence by a Wire Z to anelectric motor J, then returning by wire Z' to the switch, and thencepassing by a wire Z2 to a trolley H', in contact with the hoop O in theopposite wheel O, and thence through spring connections, as beforedescribed, to a return T-piece E'. Connected to the wire l is a Wire m,that leads to a switch L, and thence by wires m to a series of electricheaters M M,

the wire n, connected to the wire Z2, complet-` ing the circuit. To thewire m is also connected a wire p, that leads to a switch N, and thenceby wires q to a series of electric lamps IOO P, and the circuit iscompleted by a Wire r, connected to the return-wire n. To the wire m isalso connected a wire r', that leads to a reducer R, that by Wire r2connects with a telephone S, the return-Wire s of which connects withthe wire Z2, and thence conducted as described to the return T-piece E',to which wires are connected at suitable points to connect with astation or central station.

In operation the electricity will flow along the conductor G, and as thehoop C depresses the T-pieee E connection will be formed by the rod 7e,so that the current will flow through said hoop C on the wheel C, and isthen taken off by the trolley II, and thence to the wire I, from whichit is conducted to the Various switches, thence passing through themotor, the heaters, the electric lights, and telephone, and returned bysuitable wires to the trolley H on the opposite side, and thence throughthe rim C to the T-piece E/ and through the rod k to the return T-pieceG. One or more of these circuits can be opened or closed at pleasure, sothat one or all of them can be placed in operation, as may be required.

That I clairn is- 1. In a railroad an electric conductor supported bythe side of the rail a T-piece consistin g of a number of sectionsinsulated from each other and supported by springs from the web of therail and spring contact-pieces consisting of two disks ot' hard rubber,a cylinder of soft rubber and a metal rod passing through the centersubstantially as set forth.

2. In a railroad an electric conductor consisting of a T-piece and ayielding T-piece arranged over saine both supported from the web of therail, spring contact-pieces interposed between thein in combination withwheels each having a hoop or ring of copper or other suitable metal letinto the outer edge of the wheel-Bauges but insulated therefromsubstantially as set forth.

3. In a railroad an electric conductor consisting of a Tpiece and ayielding T-piece made up of short sections insulated from each other andsupported from the web of the rail, spring contact-pieces between themin combination with a car having wheels with a metal hoop or ring letinto but insulated from the edge of the flange, trolleys connected tothe truck and in contact with said metal hoops, wire leading from thetrolley onone side to a motor, a series of electric heaters, lamps and atelephone and return-wires leading to the trolley on the opposite sideand thence through the rim of the wheel to the return T-piece on thatside substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 27th day of February, A.D. 1897.

HOSEA IV. LIBBEY.

vWitnesses:

CHAs. STEERE, EDWIN PLANTA.

